Émile Breton
{{Short description|French painter and engraver (1831–1902)}}
{{refimprove|date=December 2016}}
File:Breton, Emile, par Etienne Carjat, BNF Gallica.jpg (1866)]]
File:Lille PdBA breton noel.JPG
Émile Adélard Breton (8 March 1831, Courrières – 24 November 1902, Courrières) was a French painter and engraver; best known for his moody nocturnal landscapes with figures.
Biography
His older brother, Jules, was also a painter and gave him his first lessons, although he was largely self-taught. His younger brother, {{ill|Ludovic Breton|fr}}, was an engineer who was in charge of drilling for the first attempt to build a cross-channel railway tunnel.
His first exhibition was at the Salon in 1861. He later won a medal there three years in a row (1866–68) and was awarded a first-class medal at the Exposition Universelle (1878). Following that, he was named a Knight in the Legion of Honor.[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=NOM&VALUE_1=BRETON&NUMBER=31&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28BRETON%29%20%3aNOM%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All Documentation] @ the Base Léonore. He was given a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle (1889).
During the Franco-Prussian War, he served as a commander of the forces in Pas-de-Calais. He also served as Mayor of Courrières, as did his father, Marie-Louis Breton (1796–1848) and his uncle, Boniface Breton (1829–1891).
He was profoundly affected by the death of his only son, Louis, in 1891 at the age of twenty-nine, which came shortly after the death of his wife. The following year, he decided to abandon painting and sold his entire workshop at auction.[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k12428219/f18.image Auction catalogue] @ BNF Gallica. Later, he began painting again, but produced very little.
His niece was Virginie Demont-Breton, who was also a well-known painter. Adrien Demont (who married his niece) and Henri Duhem were among his best-known students. A street in Courrières has been named after him.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commonscat inline|Émile Breton}}
- [http://www.artnet.com/artists/emile-adelard-breton/past-auction-results ArtNet: More works by Breton.]
- [http://webmuseo.com/ws/musenor/app/collection?vc=ePkH4LF7w6iejCyUUNITNB0rpOaCyrSkotSS_Dxw3QrzCwDufRZZ Paintings by Breton] @ Musenor
- [http://vangoghletters.org/vg/search/advanced?originaltext=original&translation=translation&annotations=notes&essays=essays&other=other&from=1&to=1&date_from=1872-09-29&date_until=1890-07-31&order=date&person_code=905 Letters by Vincent van Gogh] that mention Breton.
{{ACArt}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breton, Emile}}
Category:19th-century French painters
Category:French landscape painters